Ben Zimmer

A president’s infamous protestation 50 years ago during Watergate relied on an Old Norse term for things that take a turn.

How did the controversial term go from middle-school slang to verboten? The answer lies on the other side of the Atlantic.

A look at how the word, a surprisingly recent addition to the English lexicon, made its way into the dictionary.

The anti-Semitic seeds of its use were firmly planted 75 years ago.

An early use of the spoonerism "bass-ackwards" turns up in an 1840s letter by a young Abraham Lincoln.

Evidence that the idiom could be 100 years older than was previously thought.